16 US cities where incomes can't keep up with housing costs

You're probably not in good financial shape if more than 30% of your paycheck goes toward housing.
AP Photo/Alan Diaz
One-third of Americans overpay for housing, spending more than the recommended 30% of their income on rent or homeownership expenses.

In fact, according to a new ranking from SmartAsset, the least affordable housing markets in the US aren't necessarily the places with the most expensive homes. Rather, they're the cities where incomes haven't kept up with housing costs, rendering it even more difficult for residents to find affordable living.

To determine the list, SmartAsset gathered three data points — rent as a percentage of income, cost of homeownership as a percentage of income, and home value to income ratio — from the US Census Bureau for more than 580 cities. SmartAsset then ranked each city in each metric and calculated the average to determine a final score out of 100.

Three states — California, New Jersey, and Florida — are home to 15 of the top 16 cities in the ranking. Passaic, New Jersey, takes the No. 1 spot on the list. Renters there pay only $500 less than San Francisco renters, but households earn almost $70,000 less per year than they do in San Francisco, according to SmartAsset.